Finally! I am updating Elder Castleberry's blog with his e-mails from the past month and a half. In case you haven't noticed, I don't believe he has capitalization capabilities on the computer he uses. . .
December 1, 4:03 p.m. hello! hey, So thats cool that dad spoke yesterday in church ‘cause quess what? So did I! haha how ironic. but i spoke on family and how much the gospel strengthens the family. and it was super hard trying to stay focused yesterday ‘cause all i could think about is my family! i miss you guys. everyone. really, when things get tough i just think of my family and i get an amazing feeling. i just love the thought that i can be with you all forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever! jaja (haha in espanol) you guys are so cool! i talk about my family tons to everyone that we’re talking to. in lessons, in the street. to the people i live with. its cool. but i don’t know what to tell you in these letters and i never answer your questions so sorry. we have cambios this next monday. changes. ben called them the same thing. maybe its a spanish thing. quien sabe. people say quien sabe all the time here its funny. but yeah. i love ya tons! the church is amazing and i am doing great! thanks for all the prayers in my behalf i feel it everyday!
love ya,
elder castleberry
December 8, 4:23 p.m. que tal hey, so we had transfers today. but i didn´t go anywhere and i didn’t get a new companion. and the other kids in our house didn’t get changed either. its super rare. everything’s the same. usually with transfers everything’s super different. new companion. new people in the house. but no. its just the same. i don’t know why we didn’t change. but yeah. i don’t have anything super amazing to tell you. just the normal stories of a missionary who is extra ordinary hehe. no its amazing to see the guide of the spirit in my life right now. it’s amazing how much the spirit helps without even realizing it. but it’s cool. i love it. being a missionary is fun. people really open up to you. yesterday was off the hook! we got to watch the christmas devotional ‘cause we brought investigators. (we got 5 there!) it was really cool. president uctdoweoirjsf or whatever that guys name is was awesome! i’m like yeah. he´s in my ward. i got chills. he gave an amazingly powerful testimony i loved it! well. they were all amazing. then elder eyring talked about traditions and all that and i couldn’t help think about the roof. then i started to cry. why does my family have to be so perfect! i don’t deserve this at all! it’s crazy how much i love everyone in my family and how much of an example they all are to me. good stuff. well i’m gonna go save some souls now.
much love,
elder castillo!
Dec 8, to Russ 4:26 p.m. hola! oh man i don’t even want to think of that night with our family at the roof right now. its super tough right now. christmas at the roof is the best time of year. i´ll really never forget that night. it was what i´d like to call a celestial moment. every thing i love most in one room. there are two things about christmas that i will never forget. one of them is that night. crying in front of everyone. thanks a lot! i really love my family. i talk about everyone in all the lessons i teach its funny. i´ll never forget that, thanks dad. and the other moment i wont forget is with this old guy with one eye reading a story of the christ child and his birth. wow. i have had the best life ever!
love you tons!!!!
elder castleberry
December 15, 2:51 p.m. hello i have no idea when i´ll be calling on christmas sorry. we´ll find out this next saturday. president mickleson from the 70 is coming to talk to us and everyone’s super excited. he´s over our mission i guess. but yeah mom i’m geting all your letters. and stuff. i´ll probably get the package when we have this conference saturday. the packages take for ever to get here from culiacan. it’s lame but it’s ok. um... i don’t know what else to say. oh i did both the baptism and confirmation the other day so i felt super bad for my comp ‘cause he hasn´t even got to baptize anyone with me yet. haha it’s not his fault. they choose. i don’t know why she chose me to do both. it’s kinda weird. he´s like oh alright. same priesthood. haha good attitude i guess. but he´s bitter i think. he´s the senior comp he should baptize right haha. i love him he’s great. yeah. la paz is a lot different at christmas. they drink a lot more. they have beer delivery. just like pizza. how sad is that! thanks for the birthday love. you rock! love ya tons., thanks for the prayers and all that jazz. get yourself something nice for my birthday ok haha love ya.
adios!
elder castleberry
December 22, 4:13 p.m. hey call me wednesday at 6 in the night at this number. 01-612-122-7205. that’s just the number that they gave me. it’s to the sister raquels house. have john or ben call or something just to make sure that’s it. i don’t know. if there’s like a special number that you have to call to get to mexico or what. figure it out and give it some tests ok? wednesday. at 6!
December 22, 4:19 p.m. much love hey so yeah this week was super amazing. i baptized a super good looking daughter of god it was off the hook! and it was really the most spiritual baptism ever. we had the president of the mission there and we had president mickleson there and their wives. it was so good! after sister mickleson said it was the best baptism she had ever seen! that just gave me the feel goods like non other! this week really has been a super good learning experience. we have completely changed how we teach. it’s gonna be hard to learn again. i still feel like i’m in that new kid stage. i should get out of that soon don’t ya think! i thought i was then they give us this new thing and i don’t know how to do it very well at all! but i’m typing really slow now and i don’t know why. i love my family so much. i love the examples in my life. i love this church! thanks so much for everything! oh and yes i got the package you sent thanks tons! its awesome! everyone was super jealous. i got to open it in front of all this missionaries in the baja. how cool is that! haha i’m terrible. well i love you. talk to you soon. glad everything is super good!
peace with love,
elder castleberry
December 22, 4:32 p.m. oh yeah i forgot to tell you that i had a super cool experience with a guy that’s way high up in the government. no time for all of it, first of all it was a miracle that we even got in the house. but he is a super super good guy! that’s hard to find in some of the government here. he wants to help the people so much but he can’t give money to everyone. but i learned a great lesson that day. the best thing we can give to anyone is the truth. i’ve heard it before but it just hit me this week as we think a lot about presents and what not. really the best gift is your testimony. it’s super cool. if they get a testimony too they´ve have the best gift of god, eternal life. haha sweet...
te amo,ç
elder castillo
December 22, 4:34 Re: Merry Christmas! christmas eve at 6 don’t forget! have john or ben call tonight or something to make sure its the right name. haha she might not understand my name so say its the super good lookin’ missionary. just kidding. figure it out!
December 29, 2008 2:03 p.m. Re: Holiday greetings! you’re awesome. but you know what is just as awesome? rock band 2. i haven’t played it but i wanted to so bad! these people we’re teachin’ just got it. they´re super rich. their kids were playing it when we went over and i was freaking out. i wanted to throw them off and start playing for myself. but yeah. christmas was a blast. i was a little disappointed cause i only got to talk to my family for like 2 minutes but it’s ok ‘cause i love you guys. it’s just good to listen to y’alls voices. christmas day was awesome. we got up and just hung out cause we couldn’t do anything then at like 2 we went to applebees. it was super good! i had ribs. we were there for a super long time. then after we went and sang on the malicon. that’s just a place that’s a long beach and like the touristy area. they had a huge christmas tree and we sang in front of it. we sang for like 2 hours. it was awesome. people were loving it. i was the conductor which was super funny. it was a really fun time. then we went and hung out at some members house and just ate. a member bought me pants how nice is that! i need socks i’m probably gonna buy some today. i ripped right through these cheap mr. mac socks. they´re terrible! haha life of a missionary right! but i was thinking a lot about the war in heaven the other day and also about pride. it’s weird how bad pride really is. that’s pretty much why we have all these wars and destruction. is because people are too dang prideful! it’s sad. stupid satan is too prideful to think that someone had a better plan then him. and he took away a third of my brothers and sisters. i don’t even know how to describe how that makes me feel. thats another reason i’m here. just to make him mad. thanks for pushing me every step of the way. i don’t go one day without thinking about the incredible examples i have in my life. i testify of my family everyday, lots! i love this amazing gospel. i’m so grateful to be alive in these times and to be here in mexico helping people come unto christ. i just read alma 36 the other day. and i love it! go read it. that’s a reason i’m here. to feel the power of repentance and to bring it to others. they need that joy in their life. it’s simple it’s right here take it! love you tons! have a super good week. and remember who you are and what you stand for!
much love,
elder castleberry
To Russ-Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 1:49 PM Re: Happy New Year yeah christmas was too sad but its ok i loved talking to you guys. just didn’t like wasting time conferencing people in! super lame! its ok. yeah mom told me he was working with ya thats cool. i heard the economy is not doing so good right now. that’s no good. what was his blessing i love those! haha i got a card from jackson once. its super hard for me to send stuff so i don’t know when i’ll get another thing back from him. sad story.
love ya,
tu hijo favorito, el castillo
January 5, 2009 5:48 p.m. hola! hey so i’m still here in the good old la paz. we have changes in two more weeks and i cant wait! its ok we’re still working super hard! man i love being a missionary! this week was pretty cool. i learned a lot. i learn a lot every week i think that’s one of the things that i like best about being here in the mission is all the things i learn. not just from like studying but from teaching. the people teach me that i’m teaching. it’s like a win win situation! i´ve really learned a lot about all the miracles. i´ve been told i´ll see many on my mission but what i´ve realized is that i´ve kinda had these miracles all my life. i’m just seeing what they are. every day i get up and witness miracles. the air that gives us life, the trees that support it. everything just in god’s plan for us. it’s really humbling in a way to see how we really are nothing in the balance. we owe every little thing to our father in heaven. i feel my chest burn every time i bare testimony about my loving family that i have at home. this is one of the greatest miracles in all my life is that i still have a loving family. we’re all so close, and we owe it all to the restored gospel of jesus christ. we had the testimony meeting this sunday and i was just thinking about you guys the whole time. remembering all your testimonies and the strengths they are to me. i’m serving right now giving my testimony everyday i think thats why the lord’s so close to me right now is because of the amount of times i bear my testimony. you guys should all do it. who ever reads this. bear your testimony to someone new when ever you get the opportunidad. and don’t just wait for that oportunidad go out and get it! haha wow i love this work its amazing!
love you tons!
elder castleberry
January 12, 2009 1:55 p.m. hey so what’s up how’s everything going? good? good.. well the same old here. this is my last week with this companion and it’s been pretty good. it’s ok he’s workin hard. he likes to teach. so that’s good. he got sick this week and we had to stay in the house all day. i don’t know what he had he just went and took a really long nap. he said he was going to the bathroom a lot. but yeah. no. anywho. good news. these people who we have been working with for super long are finally getting married! we baptized their kid awhile ago but now they´re getting married and baptized! i’m really excited for this. it’s amazing to see the gospel work on people. he was just a complete wreck! drinking all the time super mean to everyone but now he’s like a saint. going to church. reading the scriptures. it’s just a strength to my testimony. only the truth could do something like this. i feel so honored to be where i am right now being an instrument in the lord’s hands. this is something much more than i can even comprehend. i love it so much. i love you so much. but more than that i love the lord. congrats to ben and amanda i’m so excited. that’s awesome! i love yáll and i love the gospel!
